


make me strong

by golden_sky



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Depressed Lena Luthor, F/F, Lacrosse Player Kara, Lesbian Kara Danvers, Lesbian Lena Luthor, Misunderstandings, Protective Kara Danvers, Sexual Content, lena is a little overdramatic, not really in detail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-02 20:10:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14552604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golden_sky/pseuds/golden_sky
Summary: Lena Luthor goes to every girl's lacrosse game, but it's not because she's interested in the sport. She has a huge crush on the beloved captain of the team Kara Danvers who hasn't lost a game since she started playing.But everything changes once Kara notices Lena in the stands.





	make me strong

**Author's Note:**

> the title of this fic comes from this one song in hsm 3. i'd say sorry but it really fits a certain part of this.

College has been a rough experience for Lena. After what her brother had done, no one wanted to be the person to associate themselves with his sister. It was how she ended up a lacrosse game in the first place. With nothing else to do, she wandered into the crowded stadium to see what the game was.

Lacrosse was a huge sport at her school, not so much because people loved the sport itself, but rather everyone loved the captain, Kara Danvers. She had led the school to two consecutive championships since she had started school and won both of them. She was also incredibly kind—the type of person that said hi to everyone and always remembered your name.

 

Not to mention she was ridiculously attractive.

 

Lena had a pretty large crush on her, to say the least.

 

When Lena had gone to her first game, she sat in the corner in a seat near the front, which gave her a great view to see the players. This meant she had the perfect view of Kara Danvers’s ridiculously muscular arms. She knew immediately that she was going to have to go to every lacrosse game until Kara graduated.

 

That’s why she’s currently sitting in her usual seat in the bleachers, getting ready to watch a game she knew almost nothing about for the third year in a row.

 

The players have just come out onto the field, and Lena is ogling at Kara stretching her arms as she prepares for the game. She can practically see Kara’s shoulder muscles rippling as she uses her lacrosse stick to throw the ball, and wishes so much that she could touch.

 

Lena is completely unashamed in her staring until something terrible happens. Right as Kara is about to run on the field, she turns around, makes direct eye contact with Lena and winks.

 

Kara winks at her.

 

Lena immediately goes into a panic. There’s no way Kara Danvers would be okay with some weird lesbian, who’s a Luthor no less, staring at her every game, and if she winked at her, that means she’s noticed. And if she’s noticed, there’s a huge chance that her and her lacrosse team are going to beat the shit out of her for fun.

 

Lena does the only thing she can think of.

 

She climbs out of the bleachers, runs away from the field, and vows to never go to another lacrosse game again.

 

* * *

 

In her dorm later, Lena goes over what happened in her head. She knows that during the last few years she had been going to games, Kara had looked in her direction a few times, but Lena always wrote that off as her just casually looking in the stands.

 

Before Lena can think further, there’s a knock at her door. Lena’s heart sinks. It’s probably the entire lacrosse team here to teach her a lesson.

 

When she opens the door, it’s just her neighbor from across the hall, Lucy. Lena wouldn’t really classify them as friends, but they’ve hung out a few times and Lucy hooks her up with weed, and that’s about as close to friendship as Lena thinks she’s ever going to get.

 

“You look terrible,” Lucy deadpans, looking her up and down. Lena snorts.

 

“Thanks, I’ll make sure to get fancied up next time you knock,” she snaps. She just wants to get back to moping.

 

Lucy ignores the dig and pushes her way into Lena’s room.

 

“You’re coming with me to the party,” Lucy says, rummaging through Lena’s closet.

 

“What party?” Lena asks, ignoring the clothes Lucy tosses at her and letting them slip to the floor.

 

“Don’t you have anything that isn’t from your grandma’s closet?” Lucy mutters, before turning back to Lena. “The one for the lacrosse team. Kara just got them to their third championship.”

 

Lena’s pulse spikes at the mention of Kara’s name. There’s no way Lena can go to this party. It’s bad enough that Kara is probably going to beat her up; she doesn’t want it to happen in front of everyone.

 

“No way,” Lena says, pulling Lucy away from her closet. “I’m not going.”

 

“You have to!” Lucy insists. “You’ll never make friends if you don’t leave your dorm, and this is going to be the biggest party of the year!”

 

Lena feels herself defrost a little bit. She knows Lucy means well, but she’s beyond helping.

 

“Maybe,” Lena says. She sits down on her bed, pulling her knees up to her chin.

 

Lucy shrugs and leaves.

 

* * *

 

Lena goes to the party.

 

She can’t help it; she wants to get a glimpse of Kara outside the lacrosse field.

 

She’s at the party for all of five minutes before she hears the whispers starting. People keep giving her funny looks. She hates it.

 

She immediately turns and heads outside, sitting on the steps to the dorm. To her surprise, there’s nobody outside, and she pulls out a cigarette.

 

“You really shouldn’t smoke,” a girl says next to her. Lena doesn’t bother looking up as she takes a puff.

 

“Fuck off,” she mumbles, but she instantly wants to flick out the cigarette.

 

“Sorry,” the other girl says, taking a seat next to her. Lena curls in on herself a little further. “You okay?”

 

“I’m fine.” Lena takes another drag, before turning to look at the other girl. Her heart stops. It’s Kara.

 

Kara must see her eyes widen in panic because she lays a hand on Lena’s arm to stop her from running away. It doesn’t do anything to calm Lena’s heart.

 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kara says. She looks Lena directly in the eye, and Lena can’t help but think that Kara’s eyes are beautiful, even behind a pair of glasses.

 

Everything about Kara is beautiful up close, more so than she imagined. Her hair is pulled back into a somewhat lose bun and she’s wearing a button up shirt and slacks. The shirt sleeves are straining against the size of Kara’s arms. Lena supposes that handsome may be the better word to describe Kara Danvers.

 

“I was looking for you,” Kara continues, and Lena turns away and laughs derisively.

 

“Me?” she asks, putting out the cigarette on the step. Now she really doesn’t want it anymore.

 

“Yeah,” Kara says, looking a little sad. “You’re Lena Luthor, right?”

 

Lena nods, picking at a loose thread on her way more expensive than it should be jacket.

 

“I’m Kara Danvers,” Kara says brightly. Lena laughs.

 

“I know that,” Lena says, turning to look at Kara. She doesn’t look like she wants to beat Lena up, but then again, Lena is known for being a little oblivious sometimes.

 

Kara smiles to herself, and adjusts her glasses, almost looking a little nervous.

 

“You left the game today,” Kara says nonchalantly.

 

“Yeah.” Lena gives her a funny look. Why would she care?

 

“I made an error in the second half. We almost lost because of it.” Kara tells her, but Lena isn’t sure why.

 

Lena is surprised, though. She’s been to almost every lacrosse game and Kara had never made a mistake.

 

“What does that have to do with me?” Lena eventually asks rudely. If Kara’s going to beat her up, she just wants her to get to it.

 

“You’re my good luck charm,” Kara explains shyly, adjusting her glasses again. “Ever since you started coming to my games I haven’t made any mistakes. We’ve barely even lost a game.”

 

Lena looks at her, eyes wide. She doesn’t know what to say. Kara Danvers noticed her? And thinks she’s good luck?

 

“I’m not good luck,” is all Lena ends up saying.

 

“Yes you are!” Kara insists. She runs her palms along her thighs and Lena’s eyes drift towards them, focusing on how her thick thighs stretch her slacks.

 

“You shouldn’t listen to what they say about you,” Kara continues, making Lena look up to meet her eyes. “Just because your last name is Luthor doesn’t mean you’re just like your family. I know you’re not.”

 

“How?” Lena says, but her heart has sped up.

 

“I can see it in your eyes,” Kara whispers, and their eyes meet.

 

Lena’s heart is beating out of her chest, and her mind is whirring at a mile a minute. Her mind is yelling at her that she really isn’t, that Kara is wrong, but her eyes slide down to Kara’s lips, and she can’t help her tongue from darting out to wet her own.

 

“Please come to my next game?” Kara asks, her voice huskier than it was before. Lena watches the shape of each word form on Kara’s lips, and it’s the best movie she’s ever watched.

 

“Yeah, okay,” Lena agrees, just for the fact that it’s Kara Danvers asking, Kara Danvers who apparently notices her and believes in her. She feels like fainting.

 

She really wants to kiss her.

 

Lena starts when Kara suddenly jumps up, offering a smile.

 

“See you then,” Kara says, and then winks again. She runs back into the dorm without looking back.

 

Lena slumps forward, her head falling into her hands. Of course Kara Danvers wouldn’t want to kiss her. Even if Kara thinks she’s good luck for some reason, there’s no way she’d actually want to kiss her or be with her.

 

She’s still a Luthor, even if Kara thinks she can see past that. No one really can.

 

* * *

 

To Lena’s surprise, Kara catches her the next day after their one shared class, Biology.

 

“Hey, Lena,” Kara says, falling in step with her. She’s wearing short sleeves, and Lena’s eyes immediately fall on her bicep, which is, for the first time, right in front of her.

 

While Lena’s distracted, Kara continues, “I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me—” Lena’s heart skips a beat. “—to get some coffee?”

 

Lena tries not to let disappointment overtake her. She never had a chance with Kara, anyway.

 

“Okay,” Lena answers plainly. Even if it isn’t a date, Lena is way too excited about having the chance to stare at Kara up close and she doesn’t want it to show.

 

Kara smiles, her nose crinkling slightly, and it’s the cutest thing Lena’s ever seen.

 

She takes Lena’s hand in hers and pulls her along with her towards the coffee shop across from campus. Lena’s mind is completely blank aside from memorizing every detail of the way Kara’s hand feels in her own.

 

When they get there, Kara tells Lena to take a seat while she gets them their coffee, and Lena chooses a cushy booth in the corner where it’s a little more private and sits with her back to the door. She doesn’t want anyone to see her with Kara. If people start harassing her because they got coffee together, Lena would never stop feeling guilty.

 

(Deep down, it’s also because she wants Kara to want to see her again, and she knows that won’t happen if people start making fun of her for it. That’s how Lena’s lost all of the friends that she’s made in the past.)

 

Kara returns a few minutes later with a smile and two coffees. While Lena’s is a simple black, Kara’s is some sort of iced drink that Lena knows is filled to the brim with sugar.

 

“Thanks for agreeing to come to my games,” Kara says after a few moments of silence. She plays with her glasses for a second. “It really means a lot to me.”

 

“How did you even notice me?” Lena blurts because she can’t help herself. It’s something that’s been itching at her since their conversation the night before.

 

“You’re very noticeable,” Kara says, but she’s blushing. She swirls her straw around in her drink.

 

“Yeah,” Lena snorts, because it’s true. Everyone notices her.

 

“Not like that,” Kara says, seeming a little defensive. “It’s just— I saw you in the front row and you looked lonely. Everyone else was cheering and you were just looking at me. When I started here, I barely made the team. I was just a backup player and I was benched for most of the games. That night, when I saw you in the crowd and you were looking at me, no one else was, and I—I wanted to do something great because I knew you were paying attention. And I did.” Kara looks at her for a long moment, looking like she wants to say something else, but decides not to. She clears her throat. “So yeah, I noticed you, but it’s not because you’re a Luthor. I don’t care about that, and you shouldn’t either. You’re so much more than that.”

 

Lena looks at Kara, shocked.

 

“Okay,” she says softly, not because she truly believes it, but because coming from Kara, it sounds true.

 

Kara smiles, and it’s a lovely sight.

 

“So what do you like to do when you aren’t getting coffee with the star lacrosse player or going to her games?” Kara asks, leaning back slightly in her seat.

 

Lena doesn’t want to tell her that she typically gets high and eats through an entire box of macaroons like she’s never going to eat again.

 

“I like to read,” Lena finally offers, because it’s the only hobby of hers that isn’t in any way self destructive.

 

“Like Harry Potter?” Kara asks, her eyes light.

 

Lena tries not to make a face as she says, “Uh, no. More like mythology. I love Greek myths especially. Sometimes more historical works.” She paused. “I do occasionally indulge in historical fiction if it isn’t too absurd.”

 

Kara genuinely looks interested. “That’s so cool. So you’re a history major?”

 

Lena shakes her head. “No. Business.” She stops, wondering if she should continue, and Kara’s wide, sincere eyes make her do so. “After everything Lex did... I want to take over his company and make it a force for good. He hurt so many people, and I want to use his company to make up for that in some way.”

 

Kara’s looking at her, her eyes soft with an emotion that Lena can’t discern.

 

“You’re amazing, Lena,” Kara marvels, and shakes her head when Lena attempts to protest. “You are. Not many people would do something like that.”

 

Lena looks away. “It’s the least I can do.” She quickly scrambles to change the subject. “So what do you do when you aren’t playing lacrosse?”

 

Kara smiles. “I write for the school newspaper.” Lena’s eyebrows shoot up. She didn’t know that. “Yeah, I know, not a lot of people know that. I, uh, I’m majoring in journalism so...” She trails off, swirling her straw around in her coffee.

 

“You’ll be a great journalist,” Lena assures her, even though she’s never read a single one of Kara’s pieces.

 

“You think so?” Kara asks, her mouth turning up into a crooked smile that makes her nose crinkle slightly. It’s so endearing that Lena has to stop herself from reaching across the table and kissing her.

 

“Absolutely,” Lena assures. She smirks slightly and raises an eyebrow. “I’m sure that assertiveness from lacrosse will serve you well as a reporter.”

 

Kara laughs. It’s an amazing sound; one Lena would love to hear every day for the rest of her li—she stops herself. It isn’t as if she’s in love with Kara or anything. Or, at least, she would really like to believe she isn’t, but the odds don’t seem to be in her favor. She doesn’t know what she’ll do if that turns out to be the case, so she shoves that thought down.

 

“Yeah, I guess it will,” Kara says, gazing at her almost wondrously, her lips curled up in a slight grin. Lena smiles back and she guesses that her stare is as love struck as she feels.

 

Kara’s phone beeps, and she immediately breaks eye contact to check it.

 

“Crap, it’s my sister.” Kara shoves her phone in her pocket, getting up. “I told her that I’d meet her after class. I really have to go.”

 

Lena tries not to let her disappointment show. Her stomach sinks as she realizes that this may be the only time her and Kara are alone together like this.

 

Her fears as quelled slightly when Kara turns to her and says, “I hope we can do this again sometime.”

 

“Me, too.” Lena gives her a weak smile, but Kara’s is as bright as ever.

 

Lena watches her leave, and her chest bursts with a longing that she never thought she would feel. A longing that isn’t really hers to have.

 

* * *

 

At nine that night, Lena is working on a report and doing her best not to think about her talk with Kara earlier.

 

Fuck, Lena is so gone on her. She’s the most gorgeous person Lena’s ever met, and now that she knows how sweet Kara really is, that the whole thing isn’t just an act, there’s nothing to stop Lena from being completely head over heels for her.

 

A knock on Lena’s door startled her out of her thoughts. She has no clue who’s knocking at her door, but she never has a good feeling about things like this. She hopes it’s just Lucy.

 

She opens the door a crack and sees Kara’s smiling face. Lena’s eyes widen, and she opens the door all the way.

 

Kara is standing outside her door in a National City University sweater, sweatpants, bunny slippers, and a huge grin. Lena is dressed about the same as her, but she still feels self conscious.

 

“I felt bad about having to leave today,” Kara says, her smile turning to something softer. “I brought this.”

 

She holds up a DVD, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Lena makes a face just looking at it.

 

“See! That’s why I brought it.” Kara shakes her head, stepping into Lena’s dorm room. “You made that face before. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like Harry Potter.”

 

Lena shrugs. “I just never understood the hype.”

 

Kara makes an affronted noise before moving towards her DVD player to put the movie in. Something about Kara coming in her room and taking charge like it’s her own makes her feel tingly.

 

“How’d you find my room?” Lena asks, watching Kara sit on her bed and kick off her slippers to reveal fluffy socks with bunnies on them.

 

“Lucy told me,” Kara replies, eyes focused on the TV where she’s flipping through the previews. “I guess you didn’t know we’re good friends. She’s dating my best friend, James.”

 

Lena’s surprised. She didn’t know Kara was friends with Lucy or James. In fact, she doesn’t know anything about Kara aside from that she plays lacrosse, has a sister, and apparently loves Harry Potter.

 

“She mentioned that you live across from her a while ago,” Kara says, her eyes still trained on the TV, though now it seems forced. Lena decides she doesn’t want to know why.

 

Lena sits on her bed next to Kara and wonders what it would be like if they were together and did this every day. She can barely hold back a smile at the thought, and her eyes flicker over to Kara, who’s still not looking at her. Lena really doesn’t mind, it gives her the chance to look at her unabashedly.

 

“You ready?” Kara asks when the main menu shows up. Lena jerks her head away and nods, trying to will away the blush on her cheeks.

 

Kara hits play and the movie begins. Lena isn’t interested in Harry Potter at all, and this is fine for her because she’s too focused on where Kara’s leg is just barely brushing her own and the warmth that Kara seems to radiate to pay attention to the movie.

 

At one point, Kara even seems to notice and nudges her slightly to try and get her to pay attention. She gives up and leans back slightly onto her elbows, and holy fuck Lena would give anything to be between her legs right then.

 

Somewhere around there, Lena falls asleep.

 

* * *

 

Lena wakes up to warmth pooling in her stomach and a moan breaking off her lips. Soft kisses are being placed on her neck, and a strong hand is steadily caressing her between her thighs.

 

“Fuck,” Lena whimpers, as Kara slowly moves her hand upwards and hooks it underneath her sweatpants.

 

Kara hums low then bites her just underneath her ear. Lena bites her lip.

 

“You like that?” Kara whispers, just barely touching Lena’s clit. Lena nods feverishly, just holding back a plea for Kara to _just fuck her please please please_ —

 

“Good girl,” Kara says, kissing Lena’s neck and continuing to tease her clit, rubbing her in a soft circular motion. Lena moans, more at the praise than the stimulation.

 

Kara shushes her, slowly removing her hand and trailing kisses down to her collarbone where she begins to suck lightly. Lena gasps when Kara bites down hard enough that Lena knows she’ll have to wear a scarf and Kara chuckles at the sound of it. She brushes her lips over the spot.

 

Kara’s hands move under Lena’s sweatshirt, coaxing her to take it off. She does, throwing it somewhere she doesn’t see, though she does hear something fall over. She can’t bring herself to care.

 

Kara starts leaving little bites just above where Lena’s bra ends as she carefully pulls Lena up enough to unclasp her bra. Lena is almost completely lax as Kara holds her up with one hand on the small of her back and the other skillfully removing the bra.

 

“I like your bra,” Kara giggles breathily against her chest.

 

Lena can barely even form a coherent thought, but manages to make a squeaky noise of acknowledgement that makes Kara laugh again as she pulls off her bra and throws it towards her discarded shirt.

 

Kara gingerly lowers Lena back onto the bed. She slowly moves her hands up from Lena’s flat stomach to her chest, where she begins to lightly massage her hardening nipples.

 

“You’re so beautiful,” Kara murmurs, leaning down to ghost her tongue over Lena’s left nipple. Lena groans, her hands clutching at Kara’s still covered back.

 

Kara circles the hardening bud with her tongue before closing her lips around it. She sucks for a second before catching the tip between her teeth and adding slight pressure. Lena lets out such a load moan that Kara lets go and grins at her.

 

“Sensitive?” she asks with a teasing tone, before moving down to repeat her ministrations on the second one. Lena is a mess by the time she’s finished, and she can feel her panties soaking through.

 

“God, fuck,” Lena curses once Kara moves down to her stomach, where she is biting and kissing her. Kara gives a particularly sharp bite in response, and huffs a laugh at Lena’s intake of breath.

 

“You’re so good, Lena,” Kara says, as she unceremoniously pulls off Lena’s pants. Lena kicks them off the bed, and immediately spreads her legs to let Kara in between them.

 

“God, you’re so fucking good.” Kara hooks Lena’s legs over her shoulders, leaving her directly level with Lena’s still covered pussy.

 

Kara blows, making Lena shiver before moving forward to mouth along her through her underwear. Lena already feels like she’s going to cum and Kara has barely touched her yet.

 

Kara drops Lena’s legs so she can shimmy off her underwear, which Lena eventually is able to get off. Barely a second passes before Kara dives between her legs, licking a stripe up from just above her asshole to her clit.

 

“You’re so beautiful, Lena,” Kara says again, but she almost sounds dazed. “So good.” Lena’s heart feels like it might burst out of her chest.

 

Kara sucks Lena’s clit into her mouth, her hands reaching up to push down Lena’s hips when they buck up in response. She rubs soothing circles with her thumbs as she sucks and bites softly, trying to calm Lena’s attempts to start thrashing.

 

She removes her mouth with a pop and looks up at Lena, who knows her hair is wild and her eyes are probably near crazed.

 

“You okay?” Kara asks, still caressing her hip.

 

“Yeah, please keep going,” Lena begs, noticing how Kara bites her lip in response. “Please fuck me, Kara, I need you so bad.”

 

It seems to work, because Kara is immediately back between her legs, this times licking along her pussy before carefully dipping her tongue inside. At Lena’s exclamation of her name, Kara starts to really fuck her, one hand pushing down on her stomach to keep her still, and the other just lower, with her thumb on Lena’s clit to forcefully rub against her, with Lena’s barely there hip undulations doing most of the work.

 

Lena’s mind is completely blank of everything except Kara Kara Kara as she tongue-fucks her hard, and her hands grip tight in Kara’s hair, so tight that she’d be afraid of hurting her if she could actually think.

 

“Kara,” Lena pants as she feels the warmth in her stomach slowly expanding until she knows she’s going to burst. Kara hums against her pussy, and fuck, Lena’s going to—

 

Lena wakes up, acutely aware of an arm slung around her waist, and the fact that she and Kara having sex was just a dream.

 

She rolls into her back and despite having known there was an arm around her, she’s surprised to see Kara sleeping next to her. Her heart melts at the sight. Kara looks younger when she sleeps, and her glasses her slightly skewed; she must have fallen asleep before she could take them off.

 

Lena would be so happy to wake up like this every day.

 

Kara still has her arm around Lena’s waist, and Lena’s movements made her hold on even tighter. Lena lets herself enjoy it for just a minute, pretending that they are actually together and she’s allowed to have this.

 

“Mm. Lena?” Kara says after a minute, prompting Lena to jerk out of her arms.

 

Kara bolts awake and her eyes widen slightly when she notices Lena. She makes a move to rub her eyes and smacks her glasses instead.

 

“Crap, I’m sorry, Lena! I must have fallen asleep,” Kara says, fixing her glasses and shifting nervously. She bites her lip, and all Lena can think about is her dream.

 

“It’s okay,” Lena assures, even though she’s not quite sure it is. “I fell asleep, too.”

 

Kara still looks guilty and refuses to make eye contact with Lena, which is fine by her because she doesn’t want to make eye contact with her either. Lena’s sure that Kara is just uncomfortable because she’s a straight girl that just woke up spooning another girl — one who’s a lesbian at that, if Kara even knows.

 

Kara’s phone beeps and she grabs it. Lena already knows that Kara is going to jump up to leave before she even does.

 

“I’m late for practice,” Kara says, she looks up at Lena, looking reluctant. “I have to go.” She doesn’t get up.

 

Lena figures that she doesn’t want to be rude and leave again like she did during their da—lunch.

 

“It’s fine,” Lena says. “You can’t miss practice with the playoff coming up.”

 

Kara stands, but before she leaves, she looks almost shyly at Lena.

 

“Do you want to come to my practice?” Kara asks, fiddling with her glasses. “You could give me good luck there, too.”

 

Lena immediately wants to say yes, feeling a surge of elation hit her like a train. Usually the only ones who go to practices are the players’ significant other, maybe a friend if they’re really interested in the sport. Kara asking Lena to come to practice is like practically asking her to be her girlfriend, but Lena isn’t stupid enough to think that could ever be true. Kara’s probably just asking her as a gesture of forgiveness for falling asleep in her bed and bailing on her again.

 

“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Lena finally responds. “I have class today.” She doesn’t.

 

Kara’s face falls, much to Lena’s surprise. She quickly covers it up and offers a smile that Lena can’t help but think is fake.

 

“Oh, alright, maybe next time,” Kara says. She sounds subdued, but Lena isn’t sure why.

 

“Yeah, maybe,” Lena says, almost to herself, because Kara is already turning and heading out the door.

 

* * *

 

Lena doesn’t see Kara again for a few days, and even when she does next, it’s a complete surprise.

 

Lena’s sitting in the library studying for a Sociology exam — which she really wishes she hadn’t taken as her final credit instead of something easier — when she sees Kara and a few of her teammates sitting together a few tables over.

 

Lena recognizes the teammates to be Siobhan and Imra, the first of whom Lena knows Kara doesn’t get along with. Apparently Siobhan had been dreaming of becoming captain for a long time and had held it against Kara ever since she had gotten the spot instead. She can see Kara snap something at her that makes Imra cringe and Siobhan roll her eyes.

 

Lena needs to get out of here. After the incident in her bed, Lena has been making an effort to avoid Kara as best she can, and she doesn’t want to ruin that.

 

Just as Lena finishes gathering her stuff to go hide in a corner or possibly her dorm, Kara sits down across from her.

 

“Hey, Lena!” Kara says loud enough that the librarian shushes her.

 

Lena sighs and sits back down at the table. She supposes that this would happen eventually anyway.

 

Kara reaches over and grabs her sociology textbook, nose wrinkling as she flips through the pages.

 

“I thought you were a business major,” Kara says, giving Lena a confused look.

 

“Yeah,” Lena says, happy that Kara remembered her major. “I just needed an extra credit.”

 

“So you took Intro to Sociology?” Kara asks, puffing out a laugh. “You’re really amazing.”

 

Lena can feel herself turn pink and looks over Kara’s shoulder to avoid making eye contact. When she does, she sees Siobhan looking at her curiously, not even looking away once their eyes meet. Her frown slowly turns to a smirk before she looks away.

 

Lena knows that that can’t be good. She’s seen people give her similar looks before they’ve outed her to a girl she was talking to or shoved her into a locker back in high school. It sends a shiver down her spine.

 

“—people take something easy, you know? And you don’t.” Kara’s staring her, shaking her head slightly and wearing a small smile.

 

Lena feels her heart flutter and can’t help but smile back, all thoughts about Siobhan gone.

 

“It’s my Luthor genes,” Lena finds herself joking, but she instantly regrets it. Not a lot of people can find humor in her situation.

 

To her surprise, Kara giggles, ducking her head before giving Lena a wide smile.

 

Before Kara can say anything, Imra and Siobhan are standing over them. Siobhan is smirking.

 

“We have practice,” Imra says, more to Lena than Kara, as she looks between the two.

 

“Right,” Kara says, seeming reluctant as she gets up. “I’ll see you at the game tomorrow?” She smiles hopefully.

 

Lena nods happily, glad that Kara still really wants her to be there despite what happened a few days ago.

 

Kara takes a step towards her and reaches out one arm before dropping it back at her side, turning, and leaving with Imra. Lena doesn’t even notice that Siobhan is still there until she closes Lena’s textbook.

 

“Didn’t know Kara had a girlfriend,” Siobhan says, looking Lena up and down. “And a Luthor at that.”

 

Lena shifts uncomfortably. She hates the way people say her name.

 

“I’m not her girlfriend,” Lena finally mutters, which for some reason makes Siobhan laugh.

 

“Right.” Siobhan leans across the table so that her and Lena’s faces are only a few inches apart. “I’ve got nothing against you, Luthor, I want you to know. Sometimes a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do. I’m sure you understand that.”

 

She turns and leaves. For the first time in a long time, Lena feels truly afraid.

 

* * *

 

Lena goes to Kara’s playoff games, and is acutely aware of Kara looking for her at the beginning of each game and throwing her smiles throughout them. Her favorite was during the Second Round when Kara gave her a smirk before scoring a goal across the field, leaving Lena practically melted in her seat.

 

Aside from that, nothing had happened between her and Kara. They had spoken a few more times and gone out for lunch, but Kara never called it a date or made any indication that she wanted to be more than friends with Lena.

 

This isn’t much of a surprise, given that Kara is probably straight and Lena’s one of the last people anyone would want to be with anyway, but she can’t help but feel disappointed all the same.

 

Lena attends the last playoff game, but she doesn’t feel very up to it. She tells herself that even if she doesn’t have Kara, she still gets to see her at the games and even after class some days or on weekends. She should be happy with that—it’s more than what she had before.

Kara wins them the game in an amazing goal, and Lena practically cheers herself hoarse. She briefly imagines what it would be like if Kara was her girlfriend and the proud feeling bursting through her chest was justified. She sits down.

 

After the game, Lena hears someone call her name as she leaves the bleachers. It’s Kara, still dressed in her uniform with a huge smile on her face. The hair that’s come out of her ponytail is sticking to her damp forehead and her uniform is sticking to her body. Len tries not to stare.

 

“Lena!” Kara says again, and pulls her into a hug. Lena’s shocked to say the least, but immediately reciprocates.

 

“Congratulations,” Lena says after Kara pulls away. Kara gives her a bright smile, before looking behind her shoulder towards her teammates.

 

“I’m gonna go get changed, wait for me?” she asks, and Lena nods because there’s no way she can say no.

 

Kara gives her a wave before jogging to the locker rooms. Lena leans against the side of the bleachers and closes her eyes, trying to calm her heart that’s still racing from the hug.

 

“Hey, Luthor,” one of Kara’s teammates calls. Lena’s eyes snap open, but he relaxes when she realizes that it’s just Sara Lance.

 

“Hello, Sara,” Lena says with a smile. She and Sara used to be lab partners when Lena was still majoring in Chemistry and took Organic Chem. She was the only person in the class who didn’t have a problem working with her.

 

Sara leans against the bleachers next to Lena, the slightest hint of a smirk on her face.

 

“I didn’t know you and Danvers were friends,” she says casually. “Or...” She trails off, eyebrows raised.

 

“No!” Lena is quick to insist. She knows Sara isn’t the type, but she doesn’t want a rumor to spread about them being together, for Kara’s sake. “We’re just friends. Barely even that.”

 

Sara doesn’t quite look like she believes it, but still shrugs in acquiescence.

 

“So does that mean you’re free?” Sara asks bluntly, her grin turning more flirtatious.

 

Lena’s cheeks heat up. She knows Sara isn’t asking her out — she isn’t much the dating type from what she’s heard. Lena’s never had a one night stand, but maybe that’s what she needs to get over Kara. And Sara definitely wouldn’t be a bad person to have in her bed.

 

“I—” Lena begins, but gets cut off when Kara suddenly appears at her side, looking almost pissed off.

 

“What are you doing?” Kara asks Sara, who holds her hands up in a gesture of surrender.

 

“Don’t worry about it, Captain. I’m going,” Sara says, but she gives Lena a wink before she heads off. Kara crosses her arms.

 

Lena doesn’t understand why Kara seems upset as she continues to glare in Sara’s direction.

 

“You okay?” Lena finally asks, worried that she may have been the one to upset Kara somehow. Maybe she didn’t want any of her teammates to see her and she’s embarrassed and—

 

“Yeah,” Kara says, relaxing her stance and reaching up to fiddle with her glasses. “Sorry about that. Um, her. And me.”

 

“It’s fine,” Lena says, but she still doesn’t know why Kara was upset in the first place.

 

“Hey, Danvers,” one of Kara’s teammates — Leslie, Lena believes — calls out. “You coming?”

 

“No,” Kara calls back, hooking her arm around Lena’s shoulder, much to her surprise and delight. “I’ve got other plans.”

 

“To do the Luthor dyke?” someone Lena can’t see yells back, but she can tell it’s a guy. “Watch out, she might kill you!”

 

Lena freezes and feels Kara’s arm go slack around her. Kara looks at Lena, but Lena’s already turning around and running away.

 

She knows that Kara could never want to be with her.

She knows that after talking to her friends, Kara will never see her as anything more than a dyke with a brother in jail who’ll probably follow in his footsteps.

 

She knows that there’s no hope that her friendship or anything more than that could survive — all because she’s a Luthor.

 

Lena doesn’t stop running until she’s slamming the door to her dorm shut.

 

* * *

 

Lena wakes up to the sound of voices outside of her room. One she immediately recognizes as Lucy, another she believes to be her boyfriend, James, and...Kara?

 

“—should go in there. She seemed really upset last night,” Lucy warns.

 

“We could hear her crying until past one,” James chimes in. “I doubt she’s going to want company right now.”

 

“I don’t care!” Kara snaps, much to Lena’s surprise. “I need to talk to her.”

 

“Listen, Kara, it might be best if you—” James begins, but Kara is already knocking on her door.

 

Lena doesn’t want to get up. She doesn’t want to move. But this is Kara Danvers at her door.

 

Lena gets up and opens the door to find Kara, looking anxious, upset, and angry all in one. Behind her are Lucy and James, looking uncomfortable as they slip back into Lucy’s dorm.

 

“Lena!” Kara says, her eyes lighting up for the quickest second before noticing her state.

 

“What is it, Kara?” Lena says flatly. She wants to get this over with. If Kara’s going to break her heart, she might as well do it before breakfast.

 

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Kara says, shifting slightly. She lifts a hand to fix her glasses, and Lena sees blood crusted on her knuckles.

 

Lena reaches over to grab her hand without thinking.

 

“Kara, what happened?” she asks, horrified. She looks up at Kara, scanning her face for bruises or cuts, but she doesn’t see any.

 

“I may have, um, punched that guy who said those...things about you,” Kara admits. She doesn’t at all look like she regrets it. “I forgot to wash it off.”

 

And she shouldn’t, Lena thinks, at least not on her account. The only thing Lena is angry about is that she didn’t get to see it.

 

Lena smoothes her thumb over Kara’s knuckles before murmuring, “You should clean these up.”

 

Kara’s eyes are hooded when Lena looks up at her, and her tongue darts out to wet her lips. Lena can’t help but trace the motion with her eyes and subconsciously repeats the act herself.

 

“I don’t have a bathroom,” Lena blurts, making Kara blink rapidly for a few seconds.

 

“Is there one down the hall?” Kara asks, leaning back to look out her door. Lena realizes that they’ve been having this entire conversation in her doorway and feels bad that she hadn’t invited Kara in.

 

“Yeah,” Lena says, sliding her hand up Kara’s to tug at her wrist, savoring the feeling of Kara’s skin beneath her own. She guides Kara towards her dorm’s bathroom.

 

When they get there, Lena pushes up Kara’s shirt sleeve and put her hand under the water. She sees Kara looking at her out of the corner of her eye.

 

“What?” she huffs, reaching over to grab a paper towel to dab at Kara’s knuckles with.

 

“I can wash my own hand, you know,” Kara says in amusement, and Lena can tell that she’s trying not to laugh.

 

Immediately, Lena drops Kara’s hand, taking a step back.

 

“No!” Kara says, reaching for Lena with her hand that isn’t under the water. “I didn’t mean to stop. I just... thought it was nice.” She smiles crookedly.

 

Lena rolls her eyes but can’t help smiling wide as she wets the paper towel and swipes it softly across Kara’s cuts.

 

“You didn’t have to do that,” Lena says, knowing that Kara will know what she’s talking about.

 

“Yeah, I did,” Kara insists, and Lena can feel her eyes trained on her. “I couldn’t let him talk about you like that. I wouldn’t let anyone talk about you like that. You’re amazing, Lena, and everyone should see that.”

 

Lena’s heart is pounding in her chest. Her eyes focus steadily on where she’s cleaning away Kara’s blood. Her hand shakes just barely.

 

“No one’s ever stood up for me before,” Lena says softly. She doesn’t know what else to say.

 

“Well, now you have someone who will stand up for you, always,” Kara assures. “No matter what, Lena, I have your back. I promise.”

 

It takes all Lena has not to tip her head up and kiss Kara until she can’t breathe, but instead she drops Kara’s hand and grabs a new paper towel to wipe it off.

 

“Well then,” Lena says, wiping off Kara’s hand. “I suppose that you, Kara Danvers, are my hero.” She smiles up at Kara who laughs and gives Lena a light shove on the shoulder.

 

“Maybe you’re my hero,” Kara says once she stops laughing, eyes soft and suddenly serious. “God, Lena, you have to deal with so much. With your family and the way everyone treats you...” She trails off for a second, looking down at her hand. “But you haven’t let it get to you. You’re kind and so smart and you never give up. You go to the children’s hospital every week because you’re afraid the kids will get lonely! You’re just... really amazing, Lena. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” She has a steely look in her eyes when she says the last part, and Lena can see her good hand clench into a fist.

 

“I’m not nearly as great as you make me seem,” Lena scoffs, dropping Kara’s hand once she finishes wiping it off.

 

“Yes, you are!” Kara insists, turning to face her. “Why can’t you see it? You aren’t like your family, no matter what anyone else says. You’re one of the strongest people I know. One day you’re going to do something amazing like...end world hunger or find the cure for cancer, and it’ll just be because you’re that good.”

 

Kara looks down, taps on the bathroom counter twice, and makes a move to leave. Lena grabs her arm.

 

“Sometimes I worry that I’m not different,” Lena admits, her eyes trained on the floor. “Sometimes I do things and I can’t help but realize how much of a Luthor I am.”

 

“Just because you’re a Luthor doesn’t mean you can’t be good. And it’s okay to be angry or make mistakes — everyone does! That doesn’t make you a bad person,” Kara says. She’s looking at Lena’s hand where it rests on her arm. “Your family doesn’t decide who you are, you do.” She finally meets Lena’s eyes, and she finds something there that she doesn’t dare try to place. “You’re too good to follow in their paths. And for what it’s worth, I’ll always believe in you.”

 

Before Lena can reply, Kara’s already left.

 

* * *

 

Lena thinks for a long while about what Kara said to her, and for the first time, decides to seek her out.

 

She gets no response when she texts her, so she heads out onto the campus to see if she can spot her anywhere. She eventually does find her, sitting under a tall oak on the campus grounds.

 

“Lena!” Kara exclaims once she sees her, her entire face lighting up. She pats the ground next to her.

 

Lena briefly winces at the thought of sitting in the dirt, but eventually does anyway, hoping that it doesn’t ruin her expensive skirt.

 

“What’re you doing here?” Kara asks, giving Lena a once over.

 

“Looking for you,” Lena says, though she knows that was probably obvious. “I wanted to tell you that you were right about what you said to me.”

 

Kara raises an eyebrow and playfully says, “Go on.” Lena rolls her eyes, but still smiles bigger than she should.

 

“After everything that’s happened sometimes it’s hard for even me to separate myself from my family,” Lena admits, looking down at her hands. “I know that I’m more than just my last name, but when barely anyone else thinks so, it can be hard to disagree.”

 

“That’s why you need people like me who’ll tell you otherwise,” Kara says, knocking her shoulder into Lena’s. “That’s what friends are for, anyway.”

 

Lena feels her stomach drop when Kara calls them friends, but she plasters on a fake smile and nods.

 

“I know you don’t like sitting in the dirt,” Kara says abruptly, gathering her things and standing. “Why don’t we go back to my place?” Kara’s delivery makes the offer seem a lot less nonchalant than she tries to make it out to be, but Lena brushes it off.

 

“Alright,” Lena agrees.

 

Kara tangles their fingers together, and leads the way.

 

Lena isn’t sure what she was expecting Kara’s place to be like, but it certainly wasn’t this. Kara lives in a townhouse a few blocks away from campus with a few of her lacrosse teammates, and, apparently, her older sister who’s a senior, as Kara tells her as she fiddles with her keys.

 

“Alex bought this place with a few of her friends last year,” Kara says, searching through her huge ring of key chains and what looks like about three keys. “She offered me a room and a few of my teammates needed a place, too, so she said they could stay.” She gives Lena a smile once she finds the key and moves to unlock the door. “There’s ten of us here, but no one should be home right now but Alex.”

 

That gives Lena a pause. She and Kara had obviously been alone in Lena’s dorm before, but for some reason, this felt different. It seems like Kara had purposely invited her over when she knew none of her roommates would be home.

 

“Alex?” Kara calls, while Lena looks around. It’s nice, with a large modern style living room and a matching kitchen that Lena can just barely see around the corner. There’s stairs – leading up to the bedrooms, Lena assumes – and a small dining room just past that. Lena could tell from the outside that there must be two more floors, which Lena supposes is how they could fit all ten people here.

 

“This place is very nice,” Lena offers after Kara’s sister calls a greeting from upstairs. Kara smiles.

 

“Yeah, we’re very lucky,” Kara says while shrugging off her jacket. “One of Alex’s friends has a lot of money.”

 

Lena doesn’t want to mention that if she and her mother were on better terms, she could easily afford a place double the size without a dent in her bank account.

 

A girl about their age walks down the steps in some ratty clothing. Her eyes fix on Lena, looking somewhat confused. Lena guesses that this must be Kara’s sister, Alex.

 

“I didn’t know you were bringing someone over,” Alex says, her eyes still focused on Lena. Lena shifts uncomfortably. It feels like Alex is analyzing her.

 

“This is Lena,” Kara says, giving Alex a pointed look that Lena doesn’t understand. Alex’s gaze shifts from scrutinizing to gleeful in less than a second.

 

“Lena?” she asks. “Like Lena the one yo—”

 

Kara, panicked, runs up to Alex and clamps her hand over her mouth. “Ugh, gross!” Kara says a second later, after Alex must have licked her hand in retaliation. Alex shrugs, offers Lena one last smirk, and heads off towards the kitchen. Kara wipes her hand aggressively on her jeans.

 

“That was my dumb sister,” Kara grumbles, though the last part is considerably louder and more pointed. Lena hears a snort from the kitchen.

 

“Let’s go upstairs,” Kara says, taking Lena’s hand in the one her sister hadn’t licked and pulling her towards the steps. She takes Lena to the second floor – there is a third one, as Lena had suspected – and pulls her over to the room on the left and opens the door.

 

Kara’s room is pretty simple. It has a king bed on each end and one side is a little messier than the other, with some clothes flung over the chair near the nightstand. This one seems to be Kara’s bed, as it’s the one she pulls Lena towards.

 

“I share this room with one of my teammates, Sam. Do you know her?” Kara asks, fidgeting. Lena isn’t sure why.

 

She does know Sam, however. She’s one of the few lesbians that Lena knows on campus, and they’ve spent some time together over the years. Not a lot, but enough that Lena could call them acquaintances.

 

“Yes,” is all Lena ends up saying and Kara smiles weakly.

 

“That’s good.” She pauses for a long time, so long Lena doesn’t think she’s going to say anything else. “I want to give you something.”

 

Lena’s shocked. “Like a present?” The only presents she gets now are from her mother, but even those are cold and non-sentimental.

 

Kara nods, fiddling with her glasses for a second before opening up the drawer in the nightstand next to her bed. She pulls out a necklace with a crystal-like pendant on it. It’s beautiful, and Lena feels her heart begin to pick up at the sight of it, wondering what it might mean.

 

“I don’t know if you know this,” Kara begins, shifting slightly, “but I was adopted when I was 13. My parents died in a fire — most of my family did. It was in the middle of the night and I—I heard the alarm and I could smell the smoke and I just grabbed my cousin and ran out. We were having a family reunion and a lot of my family was staying at our house. The only one who made it out besides me and Clark was my Aunt Astra, but she, uh,” Kara pauses to take a breath, “she disappeared somewhere between the firemen coming and me and Clark being taken in by the police, I guess. I haven’t seen her since. The Danvers took me in and the Kents took in Clark—they were both family friends—and I’m really glad they did, but sometimes I wonder....”

 

Kara looks down at the necklace for a moment, and Kara can see her eyes welling up with tears. Lena slides a little closer, and takes one of Kara’s hands in her own. It feels natural and Lena doesn’t even think much of it.

 

“But, um, the night before my mom died she gave me this necklace. She told me that it was a family heirloom, and it was my turn to get it. That no matter where I was, a part of my family would always be with me as long as I had it.”

 

She cradles the necklace to her chest and takes a deep breath.

 

“But it’s tradition to pass it on to someone else, someone who isn’t a Zorel—my original last name—just like how my father had given it to my mother. And now I’m giving it to you.” She holds out the pendent, looking so nervous Lena’s afraid she might pass out.

 

Or at least, Lena would be if she wasn’t too busy trying not to pass out herself. Kara is giving her something that is extremely important to her, the last remnant of her birth family. Something that her father had given to her mother. Something that is probably seen as a romantic gesture within her family.

 

Oh, God, Lena thinks. What if this is supposed to be a romantic gesture? She tries not to panic, and wills herself to reach forward and delicately take the necklace from Kara.

 

“It’s beautiful, Kara,” she murmurs, studying it. It’s more beautiful than any jewelry Lena could ever afford.

 

Kara smiles softly, and takes the necklace, moving to secure it around Lena’s neck. Her fingers brush Lena’s skin when she does, sending shivers through Lena’s spine.

 

“It suits you,” Kara says, almost sounding mesmerized. Her hands are still just barely touching Lena’s neck, and her face is close enough that Lena can feel her soft breaths on her cheek.

 

“But why?” Lena asks softly. “Why would you give me something that means so much to you?”

 

Kara’s gaze meets her own, and Kara looks as dazed as she had sounded.

 

“Because you’re my good luck charm,” Kara says. Her eyes flicker down to Lena’s lips. “And I was hoping that maybe I could be yours, too. So I’m giving you a piece of me to carry around with you, always.”

 

Lena would’ve had to bite back the love confession that almost falls off her lips, but Kara does it for her. She surges forward and captures Lena’s lips with her own, her hands sliding up to cup Lena’s cheeks. Lena responds immediately, pressing forward and slowly winding her arms around Kara’s shoulders.

 

Kara pulls back just enough to ask, “Was that okay?” Lena doesn’t even bother with a verbal response, instead closing the distance between them and kissing Kara softly, scared that if she pushes too hard Kara might change her mind.

 

She needn’t have worried, because one of Kara’s hands slides to the back of Lena’s neck and pulls her forward just slightly, enough to deepen the kiss to something past chaste. Kara’s tongue swipes along the seam of Lena’s lips, and Lena can’t stop her lips from parting or the sharp gasp that comes out.

 

She feels a huff against her cheek that means Kara is laughing at her, but she’s too distracted by Kara’s tongue to care. Kara kisses fiercely but tenderly at the same time, hard but with care. The feeling bursting in Lena’s chest tells her just how much she loves Kara for it.

 

They break apart, and Kara moves to kiss along Lena’s cheek as Lena tries to catch her breath.

 

“You okay?” Kara asks, smoothing her hand from Lena’s neck and down her arm. Once she reaches her hand, she slowly intertwines their fingers.

 

Lena can barely form a coherent thought. She’s wanted to kiss Kara Danvers for years, and now that she is, she’s so overwhelmed that she doesn’t know what to do.

 

“Great,” Lena eventually breathes, her eyes fluttering closed as Kara begins to mouth at her neck.

 

Lena moans low as Kara begins to suck on the skin where he shoulder meets her neck, before adding slight pressure with her teeth. Lena knows she’s going to be leaving with a hickey, but she can’t bring herself to care.

 

Kara slowly wraps her arm around Lena’s waist and tugs her so that she’s straddling Kara’s lap. She pulls away from Lena’s neck as she runs her hands along her thighs.

 

Lena can’t help herself from tilting Kara’s face up so that she can kiss her, her hands grounded on Kara’s shoulders. Kara’s hands slide up her skirt and cup her ass, pulling her closer to Kara and in the process, just barely grinding Lena against her leg. Lena gasps and pulls away from Kara.

 

Kara reads this as a signal to stop, and say, “We can stop if you—” but Lena is already using the leverage of her hands on Lena’s shoulders to grind down harder on Kara’s thigh.

 

Kara grins, a new glint coming to her eye that Lena’s never seen before.

 

“You like that?” Kara asks, close to her ear. Lena nods frantically, and Kara tightens her hold on Lena’s ass, grinding her down on her leg. Kara smiles, nosing at Lena’s ear.

 

“Do you want me to tou—” Kara begins, but never gets to finish because the door bangs open and a loud exclamation of “Shit!” ruins the mood.

 

Lena turns to see Sam standing sheepishly in the doorway, making an effort to look anywhere but them.

 

“I’ll just…” Sam says, pointing back awkwardly towards the door before leaving, carefully pulling the door shut behind her.

 

Kara and Lena look at each other for a moment before they burst out laughing. Kara swings Lena around so they’re both lying on her bed facing one another once their laughter has faded into loud giggles.

 

“Do you think we’ve traumatized her?” Lena asks once she’s caught her breath.

 

“Trust me, I’ve seen worse from her,” Kara says, fixing her screwed glasses. “She’ll get over it.”

 

Lena huffs out another laugh, rolling onto her back. There’s a comfortable silence between the two of them for a moment.

 

“I didn’t know you like girls,” Lena says eventually. She can’t help but bring it up; she’s worried that Kara’s using her to experiment and leave her heartbroken. She doesn’t think that Kara is the type, but she can’t stop herself from being wary.

 

“I don’t really bring it up a lot,” Kara says unhappily. “You saw the kind of people some of my teammates hang around.” Lena remembers the guy who called her a dyke and winces. “I’ve only ever told my sister and Sam.”

 

“If Sam didn’t know before, she’d definitely know now,” Lena jokes in an attempt to lighten Kara’s mood. It works for a moment – Kara smiles in a way that scrunches her nose and she giggles lowly.

 

“I guess so,” she says, but her smile quickly fades. She turns her head to look at Lena. “You know, I’d never had a crush on a girl before you. I saw you in the stands during my first game and I just… remembered you.” She looks away, almost shyly. “And I saw you around a lot. Most of the time sitting in the back corner in the library and reading some books or doing work. And I couldn’t stop thinking about you and the way you would smile while you read or the annoyed look you’d get when you were struggling with your homework. It was different from anything I’d felt before.”

 

Lena lets out a long breath, unable to believe that Kara has felt the same way about her for years. She’s always thought of herself as nothing more than America’s most notorious murderer’s little sister, someone so undesirable that she’d be lucky if she ever even went on a first date, let alone have someone have a crush on her. Kara is like no one she’d ever met before and she feels something bubbling in her chest – a feeling that she’s still too afraid to admit, even if she knows exactly what it is.

 

“A good kind of different?” Lena eventually asks, reaching over to brush her fingertips softly over Kara’s cheek to coax her to look towards her again. She does, smiling when Lena cups her cheek.

 

“The best kind of different,” Kara says, and it feels like a promise.

 

Lena smiles back, probably the widest one since Lex, and curls her hand around the back of Kara’s neck, threading her fingers through her hair and pulling her forward so their lips meet in a slow, languid kiss.

 

Kara curls an arm around Lena’s waist and tugs her forward so their bodies are molded together. Lena is almost startled by how well they fit together.

 

Kara pulls away, giving a breathy laugh when Lena tries to chase her lips.

 

“Why’d you come to all of my lacrosse games?” Kara asks, brushing some hair out of Lena’s face. “I’m gonna guess it’s not because you’re interested in the sport.”

 

Lena laughs.

 

“God no. I went to the first game because I had nothing else to do and when I saw a certain player I was...” Lena bites her lip, holding back a smile. “...intrigued enough to come back.”

 

“Oh, really?” Kara says, a wide smile taking over her face. “Do you remember this player’s name?”

 

“I don’t think so,” Lena says with fake remorse, “but I believe she’s blond and has these huge muscular arms that I just couldn’t resist seeing again.”

 

Somehow, Kara’s smile grows even more, and she tugs up her short sleeve so her arm in completely bare. She flexes just barely.

 

“You mean arms like this?” she asks, her grin almost turning cocky.

 

“Yes, those are very similar to her arms,” Lena affirms, her eyes unable to move themselves away from Kara’s arm.

 

“And did this player just so happen to become the team captain?” Kara asks. Lena looks up to see barely contained glee in her eyes.

 

“As a matter of fact, I think she is,” Lena says, feigning astonishment. “Would you happen to know anyone like that? I’d really like to go on a date with her.”

 

Kara makes a sound that almost resembles a growl and pulls Lena into a deep kiss, immediately licking into Lena’s mouth.

 

She rolls on top of Lena, her thighs straddling one of Lena’s so that she’s able to grind down onto Lena’s leg. Lena gasps when she feels Kara push up her skirt so that Kara’s leg is pressed firmly against her through her panties. Lena’s arms curl around Kara’s neck, pulling her as close as she can as she rolls her hips against her thigh, whimpering at the stimulation.

 

Arousal pools deep in her belly as Kara pants low against her neck, licking and sucking and biting as they grind against each other.

 

Kara’s hand slides up the thigh she isn’t straddling, stopping just at the edge of her panties.

 

“Can I—” Kara begins to ask, but Lena’s already frantically nodding in response, dying for Kara to touch her.

 

Kara ghosts her fingers over Lena through her panties and Lena whimpers loud enough that it makes Kara smile.

 

Her fingers dance towards where the elastic of her underwear meets her hips and Kara pulls it back. Lena sucks in a breath in anticipation, which comes out as a yelp when Kara snaps the elastic back so it hits her skin. Lena glares at her, but she isn’t really annoyed, while Kara laughs enthusiastically.

 

Lena sits up so her and Kara’s faces are so close together that their noses are almost touching.

 

“Maybe I’ll just go find Sam and ask her to—” Before Lena can finish, Kara shoves her back down, kissing her hard and tugging her bottom lip between her teeth, her hand dipping past the elastic and brushing against her clit. Lena gasps against Kara’s lips.

 

“Still want to go get Sam?” Kara murmurs, her lips trailing over Lena’s cheek.

 

“Maybe,” Lena gasps, arching up when Kara begins to rub slow circles into her clit.

 

“How about now?” Kara asks as Lena’s hands reach up to grip her shoulders, and Kara begins gyrating her hips harder against Lena’s bare thigh.

 

Lena moans loudly as Kara’s fingers move down to her opening, rubbing along it and just barely dipping inside.

 

“You’re so wet for me,” Kara whispers, nosing along Lena’s sharp jaw line. “I’ve barely touched you and you’re soaked. Do you think Sam could do that to you?” Lena bites her lip, moving her hips in time with Kara’s over her clit.

 

But Lena isn’t giving in that easily.

 

“I’m sure she could,” Lena stutters, groaning when Kara presses down harder and speeds up her movements.

 

“Oh, really?” Kara says, and she stops. She just completely stops, sitting back up away from Lena. Lena whines pitifully.

 

“Kara,” she says, trying to sound angry, but her voice is too breathy to be anything more than petulant.

 

“Yes, Lena?” Kara asks, a knowing smirk gracing her lips.

 

“Please,” is all Lena is able to manage, desperately moving her hips to try and get some sort of friction against her clit from where Kara’s finger is still resting against it. She’s unsuccessful, especially once Kara places her other hand on Lena’s abdomen to hold it in place.

 

“Please what?” Kara asks. She leans forward just slightly. “What do you want, Lena? Should I call Sam up here? See if she can get you off?”

 

Lena shakes her head frantically. She knows when she’s been defeated, and she’s too desperate at this point to really care.

 

“I want you, Kara,” she swears, her hands fisting in the sheets. “Please.”

 

Kara smiles, and finally begins to stroke Lena’s clit again, and Lena can feel how close she is. That she’s so fucking desperate for Kara that she’s going to come just from her rubbing her off for a few minutes.

 

Kara stretches her unoccupied arm so that it’s next to Lena’s head and she leans forward on it to nibble at Lena’s earlobe.

 

“You’re so good, Lena,” Kara breathes, and Lena can feel her start grinding against her thigh even faster. “Such a good girl.”

 

Lena cries out as she comes, feeling Kara smile against her cheek as she gently rubs her through it. Lena feels Kara shudder over her not even a moment later, though she makes no sound besides her breath hitching.

 

Kara rolls off of Lena and pillows her head on Lena’s shoulder. They both lie in silence, trying to catch their breath.

 

“Did you really come just from grinding on me?” Lena asks, quirking her eyebrow.

 

Kara hides her face in Lena’s shoulder, but Lena can feel her laughing.

 

“Getting you off just made me really...” Kara trails off, but Lena knows what she means.

 

“I’m flattered,” Lena says, and she can feel Kara chuckle again.

 

“You should be.” Kara then removes her face from Lena’s shoulder, placing a soft kiss on her neck as she does, and rolls onto her back.

 

They lie in silence, both still too blissed out to really want to move. Lena’s head lolls to the side, and something glinting on Kara’s nightstand catches her eye. She picks it up, rolling it around in her hands.

 

“What’s this?” she asks and Kara opens one eye to see what Lena’s talking about. She still can’t see and pulls on her glasses.

 

When she sees what it is, she laughs.

 

“It’s just something I bought at a thrift store,” she says. “Here—you’re holding it upside down.” Kara reaches over and turns the glass trinket upright in Lena’s hand.

 

What Lena had believed to be a handle turns out to be a woman with her fist reaching up, as if about to take flight, and what she had believed to the top is just a stand. Colors sparkle through it as Lena moves it under the light.

 

“It’s beautiful,” Lena says, looking at Kara who only nods.

 

“It, uh, makes me think of how my teammates call me Supergirl,” Kara admits, looking away. “Sometimes... I wish I could be. I want to help people. Save people that may not have been saved otherwise.” She shrugs, though it’s nowhere near as nonchalant as she must want it to look. “And I’ve always wanted to fly.”

 

Lena laughs and Kara does, too, but hers is a little more subdued.

 

“I’ve never been a fan of flying,” Lena admits, and it seems to bring the sparkle back to Kara’s eyes for some reason.

 

She wraps her arms around Lena’s waist and tugs her close.

 

“I bet I could change your mind right now,” Kara suggests, and, well, how could Lena say no to that?

 

* * *

 

Later that evening after Lena insists that she can’t go out to dinner because she absolutely needs to work on a project, Kara and Lena finally leave Kara’s room and head downstairs.

 

Alex and Sam are sitting close together on the living room couch—close enough that Lena wonders if there’s something between the two of them—and give them knowing looks when they come down the stairs.

 

“Thought you said she was your friend, Kara,” Alex teases, eyebrow quirked. Sam snorts next to her.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Kara says, rolling her eyes with a smile. “She’s the same type of friend to me that Sam is to you.”

 

Alex and Sam both blush in response, and Kara laughs as she tugs Lena towards the door.

 

“Probably gonna have to get a new roommate soon,” Kara mutters as she opens the door for Lena. “It’s only a matter of time before they start bunking together.”

 

Lena smiles. She doesn’t know Alex well, but she and Sam seem good together.

 

“So,” Kara says, breaking Lena from her thoughts. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” The hope in her voice makes Lena smile.

 

“Absolutely,” she promises, and has no second thoughts about leaning forward to give Kara a chaste kiss on the lips. She laughs breathily when Kara attempts to chase her lips after she pulls away.

 

Lena reaches up to fix Kara’s glasses and their eyes meet. She can see her own happiness reflected in Kara’s eyes, and it makes her heart soar.

 

Kara tangles their fingers together when Lena’s hands drop.

 

“I’ll see you,” she says, giving Lena one last quick kiss before letting go and turning to head back inside. Before she closes the door, she gives Lena a wink.

 

 _Yeah_ , Lena decides as the door shuts, _I’m definitely in love_.

 

* * *

 

The next morning Lena wakes up and gets dressed, completely unfocused the whole time. She almost leaves her dorm wearing two different shoes.

 

As she reaches to open her door to go to class, she notices a note that was slipped under her doorway and picks it up.

 

_Meet me by the oak at 2!  
-Kara  <3_

 

Lena smiles and hugs the note to her chest. She hasn’t felt this happy in a long time.

 

 

When Lena reaches the grounds a few minutes before two, she’s surprised to see a large group of people gathered by the tree. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that it’s Kara and her teammates.

 

She’s definitely surprised. Kara had said that she wasn’t out yet to anyone besides Alex and Sam, and there’s no way that they would be okay with Lena just joining them for no reason, so she hangs back for a few minutes, hoping that Kara will see her.

 

She can see Kara laughing, and it’s such a beautiful sight. Even from a distance, Lena can see the way her eyes shine and the way her nose crinkles. She really can’t believe that she gets to be with Kara.

 

She watches as Kara turns her head thinking she’s going to look in her direction, but Kara keeps going until she’s looking at the guy sitting next to her—a guy named Winn, if Lena is remembering correctly. She leans forward and kisses him.

 

Lena feels like the entire world has dropped out from under her. Tears are immediately stinging at her eyes and she stumbles backwards like she’s been shot.

 

Kara is kissing a guy.

 

Kara has a boyfriend.

 

Kara lied to her.

 

Lena somehow makes it back to her dorm, drops down on her bed, and feels the tears begin to fall rapidly until sobs are being forced out of her.

 

She falls asleep crying into her pillow and she’s never felt so alone.

 

* * *

 

A few hours later, Lena wakes up, pulls out a bottle of vodka that she hid in her cabinet months ago, and gets drunk. She doesn’t know how else to deal with heartbreak.

 

She was so stupid. So fucking stupid. How could she have possibly thought that Kara could ever feel the same way as her? She was Kara Danvers and Lena’s just— she’s just Lena Luthor, the weird lesbian sister of the guy who killed a ton of people. No one would want to be with her, especially not someone as amazing as Kara.

 

Lena sits on her bed and drinks for what feels like forever. She doesn’t think about possible alcohol poisoning. She’s too drunk to even care about it.

 

There’s a knock on the door, but Lena doesn’t feel like moving. Someone calls her name, and it takes a second to register. It’s Kara.

 

Lena manages to pull herself up and opens the door. Kara’s smile quickly fades once she sees her.

 

“Are you okay?” Kara asks, looking her up and down. She seems to notice the smell, the glazed over eyes, and the fact that Lena’s swaying slightly, because she says, “Are you drunk?”

 

“No, I’m not okay,” Lena responds, completely ignoring the second part. “Fuck off, Kara.” She tries to close the door, but Kara slams her hand on it to stop her.

 

“What’s the matter?” Kara asks, stepping into the room. She looks a lot more worried than she has any right to be, and Lena feels a surge of anger.

 

“You are,” she snaps, glad she’s drunk because there’s no way she could say this otherwise. “You’ve always been the problem.”

 

Kara looks hurt. Lena can’t help but feel satisfied. Kara hurt her so badly she can barely breathe. She deserves it.

 

“Me?” Kara asks, and all of a sudden she looks like she wants to bolt. She looks so scared that it almost knocks Lena out of her haze, but it doesn’t.

 

“Yeah, you!” Lena slurs, stumbling back into one of her dressers. “You and your muscles and lacrosse and perfect face and personality. What the fuck do you want me to do, Kara?” She feels tears stinging at her eyes. Kara looks stunned.

 

“I can’t help it, okay? It’s just who I am! I didn’t choose to be gay and I definitely didn’t choose to fall in love with you. I couldn’t help it because you’re so fucking perfect and I’m only human. So will you just leave me alone already? I get it, okay? Make the lesbian think you like her and then break her heart, it’s really funny.” Lena holds back a sob. “I—Can you just go? You’ve hurt me enough.”

 

“Lena, I never—” Kara begins, but Lena isn’t having it. She drunk and heartbroken and she can’t deal with this right now.

 

“You never what?” Lena says, her voice breaking. “You never meant to lead me on and break my heart? You never meant to make it seem like you liked me and then force me to see you with your b—boyfriend?” Lena wipes away her tears on her sleeve. “I find that hard to believe. I may not get out much, but I’m not stupid.”

 

“Lena,” Kara says, her eyes are soft and sad, sadder than Lena’s ever seen them. “Lena, I don’t—“

 

“Kara, I can’t,” Lena says, and she’s crying so hard she thinks her lungs are going to burst. “Kara I can’t do this with you right now. I can’t do this with you ever. I don’t want to be part of a joke anymore. Please, just leave me alone.”

 

Kara opens her mouth, but Lena whimpers, “Please,” and Kara nods, turning to leave.

 

Before she does, she places something on Lena’s table and says, “In case you want it.” She leaves.

 

Lena stumbles over and picks it up. It’s the glass woman from Kara’s room that Lena had liked, and she realizes that Kara must have come over to give it to her.

 

Angry at the emotion swelling in her chest, Lena throws it across the room where it hits the wall and shatters.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, when Lena wakes up, she realizes that she’s still wearing the necklace Kara had given her.

 

Her fingers trace over the pendent for a second, and she thinks of how much it means to Kara, how hard it was for her to give it away.

 

Lena rips it off her neck, throws it in the trash, and goes back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

The morning after that, Lena carefully removes the necklace from the trash and puts it on top of her dresser.

 

* * *

 

Lena spends the next few days in a daze. She makes sure to avoid any possible interaction with Kara. She heads straight back to her dorm from class. She uses different routes. She doesn’t go to the library. Anything to make sure she doesn’t run into Kara.

 

Her life is a lot different post-Kara. She finds herself not wanting to go back to how things were because Kara made everything so much better. Without her, Lena’s life seems dull and she—

 

She wants Kara back.

 

She knows deep down that she should probably talk to Kara and let her explain, but she’s too afraid. She doesn’t want Kara to tell her that she was only using her for some joke the whole time. If she avoids Kara, she’ll never have to know.

 

It’s not the best way of thinking, but it’s what she’s going to do.

 

* * *

 

After a week, Lena gives up on avoiding Kara and returns to her normal routine. The big championship game is coming up in three days, and she knows that Kara is going to be way too busy practicing to be thinking about Lena. As much as she wants that, it also hurts to think that way.

 

Lena heads back to her dorm after class, ready to sit in bed and maybe watch a sad movie and cry for a bit. She considers adding a pint of ice cream to that scenario while grabbing for her keys when she hears voices coming from Lucy’s room across the hall.

 

“—way she’s going to be able to play like this and you know it,” she can just hear James saying, and he sounds worried.

 

“What can we do?” Lucy snaps, and Lena can practically see her folding her arms across her chest.

 

A sigh.

 

“Nothing.”

 

A pause.

 

“I knew Kara shouldn’t have gotten herself involved with a Luthor.”

 

Lena throws open her door, rushes inside, and slams it shut.

 

* * *

 

The whole school is practically buzzing the day of the championship. Everyone on campus is gearing up for this game —one that’s predicted to be for the record books as some are saying—everyone, that is, except for Lena.

 

As much as she wants to, she knows that there’s no way she’s going to be able to go to the game and see Kara.

 

Now, she thinks, she’d probably be nothing more than a bad luck charm. Kara’s better off without her anyway.

 

But there’s also a nervous energy as well. Lena’s not sure why, but no one seems anywhere near as confident in the win this year as they did last year. It sets her on edge.

 

A few hours before the game, there’s a knock on the door. Lena opens it, still dressed in her pajamas.

 

It’s Lucy, and she gives Lena a long look up and down. James’s words echo in Lena’s head.

 

“You’re not going to the game?” She sounds almost shocked, and Lena wonders why.

 

“I’m sure you heard about what happened between Kara and me,” she says stiffly, not looking Lucy in the eye. “There’s no way I could go after that.”

 

“It’s the last game of the year!” Lucy says, and she sounds a little too enthusiastic. “You have to be there!”

 

“I doubt Kara would want me there,” Lena mumbles. “I need to get back to work.”

 

Lena begins shutting the door, but Lucy slams her hand down on it quickly, stopping her from closing it all the way.

 

“Lena,” Lucy says, “don’t you want to go to the game?” Her words are forceful, and Lena really isn’t sure why.

 

“No.” Lena moves to close the door again, but Lucy pushes back on it to stop her.

 

“I’m really sure you don’t want to miss this,” Lucy insists.

 

“I’m really sure I do,” Lena says, but Lucy doesn’t seem to want to give up.

 

“Just think about it,” Lucy persists. “I think it would be really great if you were there.”

 

She closes the door.

 

Lena thinks for a split second and then goes back to bed. Her head is pounding.

 

* * *

 

Lena doesn’t go to the game.

 

Lucy comes back another time to try and convince her to go, but Lena refuses. She can’t see Kara. She just knows that she won’t be able to look at her without seeing her kissing that boy and her heart will break all over again.

 

Lena checks her clock; the game has been going on for almost thirty minutes, which means the first half is almost over. She shifts nervously at the thought.

 

There’s a hard knock on her door, and Lena starts. She can’t imagine who would be at her door during the biggest game of the year, aside from maybe Lucy still attempting to convince her to come.

 

She reluctantly opens the door to find Alex, whose arms are crossed and lips pursed somewhat menacingly.

 

Lena lifts an eyebrow.

 

“Shouldn’t you be at the game?” Lena asks, trying not to feel intimidated by Alex’s glare.

 

“Shouldn’t you?” Alex throws back, pushing into Lena’s room. “Why the hell aren’t you at the game?”

 

“Why should I be?” Lena asks, trying to keep her composure because she just doesn’t understand why everyone wants her there so badly. “It’s not like Kara would want me there. She has her boyfriend for that!”

 

Alex seems to pause and gives Lena a strange look.

 

“Boyfriend?” Alex repeats, analyzing Lena as if to see if she’s joking. “Lena, Kara doesn’t—” She stops abruptly when her eyes catch something on Lena’s dresser.

 

Alex steps over and picks up the necklace Kara had given to her before everything happened.

 

“Lena...” Alex breathes, before forcefully asking, “Did Kara give this to you?”

 

“Yes,” Lena answers, not understanding why Alex seems so shocked. She knows the necklace means a lot to Kara, but Alex is looking at it’s more than what Lena thought.

 

“Do you even know what this means?” Alex asks, shaking herself out of her stupor. “Lena—Kara doesn’t have a boyfriend. She’s a lesbian.”

 

Lena shakes her head because that can’t possibly be true. She saw Kara and Winn together.

 

“I saw her kissing a boy — Winn, I think it was,” Lena tells her, feeling somewhat hysterical because what if she overreacted and sent away the only person who ever really cared for her?

 

“Winn?” Alex laughs, and Lena is surprised. “Lena, I don’t know what you saw, but Winn and Kara are definitely not together and—” She looks down at the necklace, curling it tightly in her fist. “If this is anything to go by, even if they were, you mean a lot more to her than he does.”

 

Lena feels like her heart has stopped in her chest. She isn’t sure what to say.

 

“What do you mean?” she finally manages, already on the verge of running to the lacrosse game and apologizing to Kara until she forgives her for ever thinking she would use her.

 

“Lena, this necklace...” Alex trails off for a second. “It was passed down in Kara’s family. Her father had given it to her mother and her grandfather had given it to her grandmother, and on and on.”

 

“She told me that,” Lena breaks in. She doesn’t get where this is going.

 

“Okay, but Lena, this necklace—the tradition is to give it to the person you fall in love with,” Alex explains, and Lena feels her jaw drop just slightly. “This is...God this is practically a marriage proposal. I can’t believe she gave it to you.”

 

Lena disregards the last statement, focused on the fact that Kara is _in love with her_. Kara loves her and Lena pushed her away and now—

 

Lena rushes to her closet, pulling out some clothes and quickly begins to change from her pajamas.

 

“What are you doing?” Alex asks as Lena slips on her shoes and grabs her keys. She pulls the necklace out of Alex’s hand.

 

“I need to get to that lacrosse game,” Lena says, and rushes out the door, putting on the necklace along the way.

 

* * *

* * *

 

“Kara, you need to focus,” Kara hears Coach Grant say from next to her, but she isn’t really listening.

 

Kara feels like she needs to break something — anything to stop herself from thinking about the way Lena looked at her when she told her to leave.

 

They’re only five minutes into the game and they’re already losing. Kara had immediately looked up to the stands to see if she could find Lena, but she wasn’t there. She hasn’t been able to focus since.

 

Everyone knew that this was going to be a problem — it’s why Coach Grant has pulled her aside before the game and told her to “drop whatever teenage angst is making you screw up and win the goddamned game” but she can’t. She can’t do it without Lena there and she can’t do it knowing that Lena hates her.

 

She’d been messing up at practice because of the thought and now she’s going to mess up the whole game, too.

 

Kara’s really going to blow the championship for her team because she’s in love with a girl. She can practically hear Alex telling her how cliché she is.

 

Coach Grant grabs her on the shoulders, giving her a light shake.

 

“Kara,” she snaps, and Kara finally looks at her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but whatever it is you need to let it go now or we’re going to lose this game.” Kara nods. “You’re our best player. We need you at your best.” Kara nods again, trying to will herself to focus.

 

“Come on, Supergirl,” Sara says from next to her, giving her a rough pat on the back. “You’ve got this!”

 

Her other teammates yell their assent, all patting her somewhere in support before the end of their timeout is called.

 

Kara gears up to get back in the game, stepping up to the other team captain to fight for the ball.

 

Her eyes are a nice mix of blue and green.

 

Kara thinks of Lena.

 

She doesn’t get the ball.

 

* * *

* * *

 

When Lena arrives at the stadium, the crowd is tenser than it’s ever been. Lena immediately realizes why. Kara’s team is losing five to one and there’s only twenty minutes left to the game.

 

“Lena!” Lucy calls, waving her over. She jumps up and pulls Lena into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

 

“What’s going on?” Lena asks once Lucy pulls back. “How are they losing?”

 

“It’s Kara,” Lucy says, biting her lip. “She keeps fucking up.”

 

“Because of me,” Lena realizes. “She can’t play without me here.”

 

“At least she thinks she can’t,” Lucy says, but Lena’s already pushing her way through to get herself to the front of the stands. She needs Kara to know she’s here. She needs Kara to...

 

She needs Kara to know that she loves her back.

 

She makes her way to the front as quickly as she can, only getting a few glares and angry words thrown her way. She leans against the railing, eyes easily finding Kara among the players.

 

Kara’s not looking too well. Lena can see that she’s obviously tired and stressed, and she doesn’t seem to be able to focus on the ball, her movements slow and clunky instead of her usual grace. It devastates Lena.

 

Lena cups her hands over her mouth. “You can do it, Kara!” she yells as loud as she can, and almost as if Kara were able to hear her among the thousands of screaming voices in the stands, she turns her head.

 

Kara stops dead in the middle of the field and the ball goes right past her to score a goal for the other team. Lena winces.

 

Kara calls a time out, much to the confusion of her teammates, and stalks over to the stands and towards Lena.

 

“You came?” Kara asks, her fingers clutching the bar that separates the two of them. “I thought you hated me.” She sounds almost tearful.

 

Lena’s hands rise to cup Kara’s face.

 

“I could never hate you,” she tells her, and she feels tears stinging at her eyes as well. “Kara, I love you.”

 

Emotions flit across Kara’s face in quick succession — surprise, elation, relief. She lets out a teary laugh.

 

“God, Lena, I love you, too. So much. I promise.” Kara is practically babbling, and Lena bends down to kiss her, in front of everyone, and they fit just right. Their lips are wet from tears, though Lena isn’t sure if it’s hers or Kara’s or both, but it’s perfect.

 

“Lena,” Kara says frantically when they break apart. “Why did you—“

 

“We’ll talk later,” Lena breaks in, using her thumbs to brush away Kara’s tears. “Right now you have a game to win.”

 

Kara smiles so wide it seems to cover her whole face.

 

She gives Lena a quick kiss before running back onto the field right as the game is about to start up again.

 

Kara positions herself across from the other captain, and looks towards Lena. She winks.

 

Within thirty seconds of the game restarting, Kara’s already scored a goal.

 

* * *

 

The last fifteen minutes of the game go by quickly, and Kara’s team easily catches up to the other now that Kara’s begun to focus.

 

In the last two minutes, Kara’s team finally manages to pull ahead after a terrific play by Sam. Lena notices Alex’s wide smile from where she’s sitting next to her.

 

The second time is called, Kara’s teammates all pile around her, cheering and laughing in a huge heap — everyone that is, except for Siobhan, who is standing to the side looking pissed off.

 

People start to hop out of the stands and into the field, joining the players in celebration. Lena follows, hoping to be able to get her way to Kara.

 

She doesn’t need to try too hard because Kara is looking for her, too, eyes bright and a smile like sunshine, her hand clutching on the huge trophy she’d just helped win for her team.

 

Lena pulls her into a hug, her face tucking into Kara’s neck. It’s sweaty and the hair sticking to it tickles Lena’s face, but she doesn’t mind. Kara’s free hand clutches tight at the back of her shirt and she chuckles into Lena’s ear.

 

“You did so well,” Lena tells her when she pulls away, and Kara’s smile turns bashful.

 

“All thanks to you,” Kara says.

 

Lena shakes her head.

 

“No, I may bring you good luck, but when you play? That’s all you, Kara. You’re amazing at lacrosse.” Lena reaches down to entwine their fingers.

 

Kara shakes her head in disbelief or awe, Lena can’t tell, and tugs Lena close to kiss her firmly on the mouth.

 

“What was that for?” Lena asks, slightly dazed once Kara pulls away.

 

“It was a thank you,” Kara tells her, and before Lena can protest, Kara adds, “For being here when I needed you.”

 

“Hey, lovebirds!” Sara calls. Kara and Lena turn to see her a few feet away, the crowd having cleared out.

 

“Sorry, Luthor, but we have to steal our captain for our team picture,” she says as she strolls up.

 

“Meet me by the bleachers in ten,” Kara says quickly. “We’ll talk?”

 

Lena nods, and Kara gives her a soft kiss on the cheek and a grin. Lena can see her grin grow wider as Sara begins to rib her.

 

Lena wills the fluttering in her belly to go away before she realizes that it doesn’t have to.

 

She heads to the bleachers smiling at the ground.

 

* * *

 

When Kara arrives at the bleachers, she gives Lena an almost shy smile before sitting next to her. Lena ponders for a moment before reaching over an intertwining their fingers. Kara’s smile widens.

 

“So what happened?” Kara asks softly, tracing her thumb over the back of Lena’s hand, her eyes following the motion.

 

“I saw you...” she pauses and Kara looks up. “I saw you kissing a guy.”

 

Kara looks at her in confusion.

 

“What?” she asks. “When?”

 

All of a sudden, Lena pulls her hand away and jumps out of her seat, backing away a few steps. She notices the hurt in Kara’s expression, and pushes down the urge to take her hand again.

 

“After you sent me that note,” Lena says, shaking her head. “God, I can’t believe I forgot about that.”

 

“What note?” Kara asks, and it’s her turn to stand.

 

Lena takes another step back.

 

“The one that said to meet you by your tree at two. The day after we...” Lena trails off, her eyes closing with the effort to not think about when they had sex.

 

“I didn’t leave you a note,” Kara tells her, and Lena’s eyes shoot open. “I was planning to come to your dorm after being with my friends we—" Kara’s eyes widen. “We were playing truth or dare. I got dared to kiss Winn. I thought it was weird because it wasn’t my turn, but Siobhan insisted... Wait, is that what you saw?”

 

Lena doesn’t answer, too preoccupied with the fact that Siobhan insisted that Kara kiss Winn exactly when Lena was supposed to show up to see Kara.

 

Siobhan’s words from in the library echo in Lena’s head.

 

And it clicks.

 

“Siobhan did this,” Lena realizes, everything coming together.

 

“What?” Kara asks, looking completely lost.

 

“Siobhan! In the library after you left she told me she was going to do something,” Lena says, putting the pieces together. “She must have sent me the note so I would see you and Winn kiss. She must have realized that I would break up with you and you wouldn’t play well during the game.” Lena looks up. “Didn’t she really want to become the team captain before you took the spot? She must have wanted you to play so badly that your coach would have no choice but to—“

 

“—make her captain instead,” Kara finishes flatly. “I can’t believe Siobhan would do that. Actually—I can. She’s always been cold with me since I became captain.”

 

Kara looks towards Lena seriously.

 

“But Lena, I never would have done that. I would never use you or cheat on you. I hope you know that,” Kara says sincerely, and Lena feels terrible.

 

Lena immediately throws herself into Kara’s arms, her arms curling tight around her neck.

 

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “I should have let you explain yourself.”

 

“No, don’t be sorry,” Kara says, wrapping her arms around Lena’s waist. “I shouldn’t have kissed Winn, even on a dare.”

 

Lena pulls back enough to give Kara a stern look.

 

“Just don’t do it again,” Lena says, only half serious.

 

“I promise,” Kara says, her eyes brightening. “My lips are all yours.”

 

Lena nods and kisses Kara again.

 

“Good,” she says, grasping Kara’s hand and pulling out of the stands.

 

“Where are we going?” Kara asks, allowing herself to be dragged away.

 

“To the locker room,” Lena says. “You really need to get out of that uniform.”

 

“I thought you loved my uniform,” Kara says, and Lena looks back to see her flex her exposed arms just slightly.

 

Lena covers up the way it makes her melt with a flat look.

 

“Kara, darling, you look great,” Lena says, and Kara grins. “You just really need a shower.”

 

Kara laughs loudly as Lena pulls open the locker room door and pushes Kara inside. Kara grabs her hand and tugs her in, too, pushing the door closed after them.

 

There’s no one left in the locker room. All of Kara’s teammates must have long since finished washing up and gone out to celebrate their big win.

 

Kara slams Lena against the lockers hard enough to make a sound eco through the room, but not enough to hurt Lena. She has her hands digging into Lena’s hips as she kisses her fiercely. Lena kisses her back without even thinking, her hands curling into Kara’s soft hair and a low moan escaping her lips.

 

Kara pulls away and softly places a kiss on Lena’s cheek. One of her hands reaches up to gently cup her other cheek.

 

“Are you sure you’ve forgiven me?” Kara asks, nosing along Lena’s cheekbone. Her glasses bump against Lena’s nose. Lena closes her eyes.

 

“There’s nothing to forgive you for,” Lena finally says, and she knows it’s true. Kara hadn’t done anything wrong, Lena had jumped to conclusions that she probably shouldn’t have. She isn’t angry at herself for being hurt, and she certainly isn’t angry at Kara for a misunderstanding.

 

She can feel Kara smile against her cheek, and it lights up Lena’s chest.

 

Lena reaches up to remove Kara’s glasses and leans around her to put them on a bench behind Kara. She straightens back up and gives her a smile before pulling Kara back into a deep kiss.

 

Lena can feel Kara smiling just slightly against her lips, and it makes Lena’s heart soar. She reaches up to curl her hands around Kara’s biceps, unable to hold back a groan at the feel of them.

 

“You really like my arms, don’t you?” Kara asks, biting along Lena’s neck as Lena gasps for air.

 

“They’re why I kept going to your games,” Lena tells her breathily, just barely holding back a moan when Kara bites particularly hard at her collarbone.

 

“Yeah?” Kara asks, and she rips open Lena’s button down shirt, her buttons scattering across the floor. Lena doesn’t care in the slightest.

 

“What about today?” Kara asks, dropping to her knees, and looking up at Lena, her pupils so far blown from lust that Lena can barely see any blue left. “Did you like watching me play?”

 

“Yes,” Lena responds, unable to get out more than that because Kara is tugging lightly at her skirt.

 

“Good,” Kara says, leaving small kisses just under Lena’s belly button, her thumbs hooked beneath the strap up her skirt and panties. “I liked you being there.” The way Kara says it, it sounds like more than just a flirtation.

 

“Kara,” Lena bites out, her teeth grinding. “Will you fuck me already?”

 

Kara laughs, and she unhooks one of her thumbs to slide her hand up Lena’s skirt and slap her ass through her underwear.

 

“Bossy,” she chides, but she still pulls down Lena’s skirt and panties in one shot.

 

Lena kicks them away, not caring where because Kara flattens her tongue over her clit. Lena’s hands tangle into Kara’s hair to keep her in place, remembering how she had teased her the last time.

 

Kara giggles against Lena’s pussy before pulling Lena’s legs further apart so she can lick her way between Lena’s lips.

 

Lena’s hand falls back against the locker with a loud thump as Kara starts to eat her out. She tugs on Kara’s hair hard, gasping her name, and Kara moans and stops abruptly. She grabs Lena’s wrists and pins them to the locker as she stands and kisses Lena fiercely. Lena can taste herself on Kara’s tongue.

 

Before Lena can ask why she stopped, Kara let’s go of her wrist and uses one of her hands to hold Lena’s leg around her waist, while the other one moves between her legs. She brushes her palm against Lena’s clit before prodding a finger against her hole and pushing inside.

 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Lena mutters and Kara smiles against her neck as she slowly starts to speed up her movements.

 

Lena can barely form a coherent thought as Kara pushes in a second finger and starts fucking her faster, her back hitting the locker behind her at every thrust, causing a loud echo throughout the locker room. It’s mostly covered by the sound of Lena repeating Kara’s name over and over in increasing desperation.

 

“You’re so good, Lena,” Kara murmurs breathily against her neck. “You really are.”

 

She pushes in a third finger and Lena gasps loudly, squeezing her eyes shut as she feels the arousal pooling in her gut getting bigger and bigger and more and more until she’s almost afraid that it will completely consume her.

 

“I love you, Lena,” Kara says, and her soft tone is almost jarring in contrast to how hard she’s fucking Lena. “You make me feel strong. You make me feel like I can do anything—be anything.”

 

“Kara,” Lena whimpers, her hands reaching up to curl around Kara’s shoulders.

 

“I know,” Kara soothes, laying one last kiss on Lena’s neck before dropping back to her knees. “I’ll take care of you.”

 

Kara barely takes Lena’s clit into her mouth before Lena comes. She lets out a strangled sound and bangs her head back against the locker, but doesn’t even register the pain. She can feel herself practically gushing around Kara’s fingers.

 

Kara gently removes her fingers after she finishes easing Lena through her orgasm. She moves forward and laps along Lena’s pussy, until Lena pushes her head away and pulls her up to kiss her.

 

When she pulls away, she grabs Kara’s hand and tugs it up to take the fingers that she had been fucking her with into her mouth, cleaning them off. Lena sees Kara’s eyes darken at the sight, and she’s reminded that Kara has yet to get off as well.

 

Lena’s broken out of the thought by Kara laughing, and Lena feels a little indignant. She lets Kara’s fingers slip out of her mouth.

 

“Why are you laughing?” she asks, annoyance lacing her tone.

 

Kara gives her a bright look and her giggles don’t let up.

 

“This is Siobhan’s locker,” she explains, her chin tilted towards the locker that Lena’s back is pressed against.

 

Lena can’t help but laugh, too.

 

* * *

 

**1 Year Later**

 

Lena can feel Kara buzzing with nervous excitement, and she can’t help but feel the same way.

 

She feels like it’s been forever since the last girl’s lacrosse championship game even though it’s only been a year, but so much has changed since then.

 

She and Kara have been together for a year, they’ve met each other’s families—though Kara meeting the Luthors was an adventure that Lena would not like to think about or repeat—they’ve moved in together. Lena can’t imagine her life without Kara in it, and she’s glad that she doesn’t have to.

 

“You’re gonna do great,” Lena tells Kara, who’s lying in Lena’s lap and trying to calm down. Lena runs her fingers through Kara’s freshly cut short hair and can’t help but smile at how great she looks.

 

“Lena, this is my last lacrosse game ever!” Kara bursts out, sitting up. “You’re gonna be there right?”

 

Lena doesn’t know why she bothered asking. Ever since Kara made Lena promise to go to her lacrosse games a year ago when they first spoke, she hadn’t gone back on that promise. She doesn’t know why Kara thinks she’d start now.

 

“Of course, I am,” Lena reassures her, urging her to lie back down, and she does so with a groan, throwing her arm over her eyes.

 

“I can’t lose this game,” Kara says against her arm, but it’s so muffled that Lena almost can’t hear it.

 

“You won’t,” Lena promises.

 

Kara sighs before leaning up to give Lena a kiss and getting up.

 

“I have to go,” she says reluctantly.

 

Lena pulls her down for another kiss and gives her a sweet smile.

 

“Good luck,” she says, and Kara’s able to muster up the first genuine smile she’s given the whole day.

 

Before Kara leaves, Lena stands up and calls: “Wait!” Kara stops and turns back to look at Lena, bemused.

 

“I got you something. Hold on.” Lena runs upstairs to her and Kara’s room. After Sam had moved into Alex’s room, Kara asked Lena to move in with her, and the two of them now lived together in Kara’s room.

 

She grabs a small package and runs back downstairs, where Kara is leaning against the wall. She hands her the box and smiles.

 

Kara is quick to open it. She unwraps it like a little kid until she’s able to reach in and grab the tiny figurine Lena had bought for her.

 

“Is this…?” Kara says, rolling the object around in her hands. She looks up at Lena with a wide smile.

 

“The Supergirl statue I broke?” Lena finishes. “Yes. I know how much you loved it. I was able to find it online and I had to get it for you.”

 

Lena’s barely finished with her sentence before Kara pulls her into her arms and murmurs a thank you against Lena’s head before kissing her there.

 

When she pulls away, Kara carefully places the statue on the table by the door.

 

“I’ll put this in our room later,” Kara says, grabbing her keys. She leans forward to give Lena a kiss. “I’ll see you at the game!”

 

Once Kara’s gone, Lena sets about preparing herself for the game as well. She’d never let it on in front of Kara, but she’s really just as nervous as she is.

 

Her fingers curl around the necklace Kara had given her. She smiles and supposes that it had brought her good luck, just like Kara said it would.

 

The house is extremely empty without all the lacrosse players around—it’s just her and Alex left, who eventually comes down so they can worry about the upcoming game together. It’s almost a tradition for them at this point.

 

A half an hour before the game, Lena and Alex meet up with Lucy, James, and Winn to head to the game. Lena’s glad that she and James have become close—she knows that he didn’t trust her at first because of her family, and she doesn’t blame him for it, but he’s a great guy that she knows she can count on. She’s happy to know Winn as well. The first time they’d met he’d apologized profusely for almost getting between her and Kara—to which Lena had insisted that she didn’t need one—and since then she and Winn spent a lot of time “geeking out” over science as Kara likes to tease them.

 

When they get to the game, the stadium is pretty packed, but they’re still able to pile in in the front row. The lacrosse players are on the field stretching and tossing the ball around, waiting for the game to start in a few minutes.

 

Kara makes her way to the railing in front of Lena and gives her a big smile, but Lena can see the nerves behind it.

 

“You got this, Kara,” Alex says from next to Lena, and the others offer more words of comfort.

 

Lena just leans forward to give Kara a kiss. She can hear their friends groaning good naturedly and ignores it.

 

“Good luck, Supergirl,” she tells Kara again when she pulls away.

 

Kara’s eyes are closed blissfully from the kiss, and she slowly opens them to give Lena a soft look.

 

“I’ve got you,” Kara says. “I don’t need luck.”

 

Of course, her team wins the game.

**Author's Note:**

> this took me five months to write and i can't believe it's done. i'm probably happier than anyone else to see kara and lena work it out in the end. i was worried this fic would never end.


End file.
